Wilier Rave SLR SRAM Force AXS XPLR review

Fast and fun, but better suited to lighter gravel and ‘all-road’ riding than the rougher stuff

Wilier Rave SLR on a purple background
(Image credit: Future)
Cycling Weekly Verdict

Very much in the camp of ‘lighter gravel’ the Wilier Rave SLR is a lightweight and sharp handling machine – ideal for smooth dirt roads and neglected country lanes. The tyre clearance is relatively narrow, which limits its use on rougher UK trails, but with its blistering speed, it very much has a place on broken roads and mellower trails. It comes with a hefty price tag and there are other bikes which offer a similar experience, in that context whether the Rave SLR is worth it depends on the depth of your pockets and fondness for Italian heritage.

Reasons to buy
  • +

    Lightweight

  • +

    Excellent handling

  • +

    Super fast

Reasons to avoid
  • -

    Very expensive

  • -

    Quite narrow tyre clearance

  • -

    J-bar handlebar is more trouble than it's worth

You can trust Cycling Weekly. Our team of experts put in hard miles testing cycling tech and will always share honest, unbiased advice to help you choose. Find out more about how we test.

Gravel bikes as a category have been splitting into two distinct strands: the bikepacking focused, multi-day adventuring sort contrasting with those lighter, faster, snappier models which appear trained on the gravel race scene. 

Wilier, an Italian bike manufacturer with a heritage spanning over 100 years, has chosen to focus very much on the latter. The Rave SLR gravel bike cuts a profile striking in its resemblance to that of Wilier's Filante SLR aero bike, while the frame weight of under a kilo in a size medium puts many a carbon road bike to shame.

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Stefan Abram
Tech features editor

After winning the 2019 National Single-Speed Cross-Country Mountain Biking Championships and claiming the plushie unicorn (true story), Stefan swapped the flat-bars for drop-bars and has never looked back. 

Since then, he’s earnt his 2ⁿᵈ cat racing licence in his first season racing as a third, completed the South Downs Double in under 20 hours and Everested in under 12.

But his favourite rides are multiday bikepacking trips, with all the huge amount of cycling tech and long days spent exploring new roads and trails - as well as histories and cultures. Most recently, he’s spent two weeks riding from Budapest into the mountains of Slovakia

Height: 177cm

Weight: 67–69kg